Quote:
Originally Posted by uktrail
How and why does this happen? Do you have to write something controversial and mention something topical eg "obama", "snowstorms" ? Is there something special about "blogs" that makes search engines favour them over other types of documentation? If I created a news page, what characteristics must it have to be regarded as a 'blog', or does your statement apply equally well to those?
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The definition of a blog might be something like "an arrangement of posts/content in reverse chronological order". The most minimalistic example of a blog that I know of is
this one.
Typical blogging software also has other features like the ones that aboriginalhostel mentioned:
- XML feeds (usually referred to as "RSS" though another common format is called Atom)
- tagging (categories)
- user comments
- pinging (notifying) search engines and other services
- trackbacks - automatically showing what pages reference the blog post, and sending out requests for links from other sites
The regularly updating content keeps search engines interested in your site. My
hostel marketing ebook just barely scratches the surface by explaining how to connect your XML newsfeeds (RSS/Atom) to a pinging service. If done the way I mention it should have search engines updating your new content within a few minutes of posting it.
The main advantage of having a hostel blog is that the software allows for anyone to upload new content on a regular basis without having to know HTML or Web design.
Here is a screenshot of a typical blogging software's "add post" screen - it's very easy to use:
By adding new content, you can systematically target new keywords. For example, if you are in a town that has an event like a wine tasting festival and you want to get those people to stay at your hostel, you could write a blog post that targets those keywords. Keywords for each event in your region could be targeted.
You could target keywords/content about nearby areas. For example, if guests are looking for "skiing in X mountains", and your hostel is located away from that skiing area but makes a nice side trip, you could capture some search engine traffic for the "skiing keywords" and include some information about your hostel in the content or sidebar.
You could have the front desk upload photos of hostel parties, or write posts about upcoming hostel events. Those types of posts would show visitors that the hostel is a fun place. (I think that one key to a good hostel Web site is photos of smiling, good-looking people that are looking at the camera.)
(I'm going to follow up on this post with a Wiki page about hostel blogging topics.)
Another thing you can do with blogs is called "social media optimization" (SMO). It's briefly mentioned in my ebook. That is where you can get the massive avalanches of traffic. Using the social media angle also helps attract links to your blog/site which then result in higher search engine rankings for your main targeted keywords.
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